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Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoJulie Turner | Vanderbilt UniversityThis artist's rendering shows planet KELT-1b, which resides so close to its star that it completes a "yearly" orbit in a mere 30 hours.

Ohio State University astronomers have discovered two unusual new planets orbiting distant
stars.

One planet, named KELT-1b, is 30 times more massive than Jupiter and its orbit is so small
that its “year” lasts a mere 29 hours.

The other planet, KELT-2ab, is about the size of Jupiter, but its star is so bright that
astronomers might be able to see what’s in the planet’s atmosphere by analyzing the light that
shines through it.

The discoveries, announced this afternoon during the American Astronomical Society’s national
meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, were made with a telescope that is essentially a souped-up, 16
mega-pixel camera.

While larger telescopes, on Earth and in space, look for planets around faintly glowing
stars, the KELT telescope focuses on bright stars. Astronomers look for regular periods of time
when the starlight dimmed, something a planet might create.